The present invention pertains to automotive visors and particularly a mounting system for attaching visors to the roof of a vehicle.
Visors are typically mounted to a pivot rod for allowing movement of the visor both from a raised stored position against the headliner of a vehicle to a lowered use position for blocking sunlight entering the windshield. Such visor mounts also allow movement of the visor to the side window position for selectively blocking sunlight entering from a side window as well. To provide such visor control an elbow pivot rod is frequently employed and has an end mounted to the underlying roof support structure. Such mounting interface has been the subject of a variety of mounting arrangements including keyed apertures formed in the roof of a vehicle for receiving a rotatable mounting member which subsequently locks to the roof of a vehicle. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,529,157; 4,729,590; and 5,242,204 disclose bayonet-type visor mounts which either require a single screw for compressively gripping the sheet metal roof ('157) or a special mounting ('590). The '204 patent discloses a system by which the visor blade itself is used as the installation tool which allows the insertion and subsequent rotation of the visor and mounting bracket keyed thereto to lock into place in the vehicle roof and subsequently allow the visor to move to the typical adjusted positions for use.
Although these visor mounts provide ease of installation as compared to the screw-in type visor mounts of the past, such twist-in visor mounts of the prior art typically have required somewhat complicated mounting structures requiring expensive tooling to manufacture. As a result, there remains a need for an easily installed twist-in type visor mount which can be inexpensively manufactured and yet provide a secure mount for the visor which is durable and provides the desired "feel" for the visor movement.